The Bay of Naples, anciently called Crater (the Cup), was known to the ancients at an early period. The remarkable appearance of its shores struck their fancy; and they named them Phlegra, or Phlegraei Catnpi, Burnt Fields, from the traces of igneous action every where visible, and accounted for these natural appearances by the fabled battle between the giants and the gods, assisted by Hercules, in which the former were cast down and destroyed by Jupiter's thunderbolts. The earth, riven, scorched, and thunderstained, bore enduring witness to the destructive power of these weapons. Here was the celebrated lake Avernus, the mouth of hell, according to the Italian poets, over which no bird could complete its flight, but dropped, overcome by the sulphureous exhalations. This is one, probably, of that numerous tribe of legends which have been framed to fit or to explain a name. Its Greek name is Aornos, literally Birdless; its dreary and terror-striking appearance when its precipitous sides were thickly clothed with wood, suggested the notion that it was the opening of the nether world; hence the story of the foetid atmosphere, and its deadly effects. Yet even here there may be some foundation of truth; for we have the authority of Sir William Hamilton for stating that while wild fowl abound in other pools and lakes in this quarter, they shun Avernus, or pay it but a passing visit. Diodorus derives the name of Phlegra from Vesuvius, which, he says, like JEina,, used to vomit fire, and still retains traces of its former eruptions. He spoke from observation of the mountain, not from tradition, for tradition recorded no eruption previous to the Christian era; but he probably erred in the derivation of the name. Traces of volcanic action were as evident round. Baiae and Puteoli as on Vesuvius; and the ancients appear to have had some record of eruptions in this quarter, since they fabled that the giant Typhon, who threw stones to heaven with a loud noise, and from whose eyes and mouth fire proceeded, lay buried under the neighbouring island of luarime or Pithecusa, now called Ischia.

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